Railway to link Kars, Tbilisi, Baku in 2015

BAKU - Anadolu Agency

The Kars-Tbilisi-Baku railway project between Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia will enter into service in the second half of 2015, Azerbaijani Transportation Minister Ziya Mammadov said during a bilateral cooperation council meeting held in Baku on Feb. 24.

“We will carry out some tests at the Turkish border towards the end of 2014 and the railway will be in service by the second half of 2015,” Mammadov said at a press conference following the meeting, which was also attended by Georgian Economy and Sustainable Development Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili.

He also said the construction of a 400-meter tunnel on the Turkish and Georgian border was nearing its completion. The Kars-Tbilisi-Baku Railway Project, a regional rail link project to directly link Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan, was originally due to be completed in 2010.

The 826-kilometer railway will transport one million passengers and 6.5 million tons of freight in the first stage. This capacity will later reach 3 million passengers and over 15 million tons of freight.